Randomly driving my campervan round France I am in Dun sur Meuse tonight where the war memorial I expected to be for the French is actually to WW1 Americans.

Anyway, that inspired me to have a rare go at this game - I have a laptop when travelling. I tried the 1918 scenario to see if the US troops turn up, unfortunately my laptop fell over in May 1918 - so does anybody know if they do show up on the game?

Also unexpected earlier today - I drove round a corner on the banks of the Meuse to be face on to a Sherman tank! Cursory inspection made me think it was a 105mm one because the hull mg point had been welded over.

Watch out Ageod - I'm heading south and may try to ambush you near Grenoble in a few days time.

Never checked stock but in my updated 1918 scenario they certainly are in France on the first turn, January 1918. Second Army is in Paris and First Army with AEF HQ under Pershing are behind the lines in north-eastern France and the valley of the Meuse.

When last I found myself in that part of France walking parts of the Verdun battlefield we ate an excellent lunch of a sausage baguette with pomme frites and a small beer from a "chip-truck" in the parking lot of the big US monument at the Montefaucon.

From there it was off to find Rossignol in an attempt to locate the 1914 battlefield but all we found was the village monument du morte in remarkably bad condition.

Well tonight I'm in St Hippolyte in the Jura but I went via Arracourt which some of you may know from the small scenario in The Operational Art of War. There I found another Sherman tank by the road and a description of the battle which was about the biggest tank battle for the US before the Bulge. However, it was also the place where the US suffered its first three casualties of WW1 and there is a memorial to that too.

This whole area is full of history for wargamers be they interested in Marlborough, Napoleon, Franco Prussian, WW1, WW2. I daresay history went on before that too.